Monday Mentionables: Short Reads!

Happy Monday!

For all my writer friends, The Long and the Short of It is seeking out short, sweet romance stories for their "Thrifty Thursday" blog posts. Info here:

The Long and the Short of It is looking for short (1300 - 1500 words), sweet romance
fiction for our Thrifty Thursdays, where readers can come and read for free
(http://tinyurl.com/njyoeh

In exchange for your short romance story, we offer $5 (payable on acceptance and
via Pay Pal only) and a free ONE MONTH book cover or banner ad (a $10 value).
The author may also choose to substitute a TWO MONTH cover/banner ad (a $20
value) in lieu of monetary payment. The author will also receive a link on our
website to their personal webpage and/or blog.

All genres are welcome as long as the story has strong romantic elements.
Additionally, all the stories accepted at Long and Short Reviews MUST have love
and romance as central. A "Happy Ever After" (or at least "Hopefully Ever After"
) is also a required, fundamental part of all the stories we publish.

More information, including how to submit your story, may be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/29p5gba

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And speaking of short/free reads, many authors swear by them, to keep readers interested in between longer releases and/or just to whet the interest of new readers. Check out my friend Liz's blog for one that does just that: link here.

And I'm curious: what do you think about free reads on websites/blogs? Do they make you want more from an author? Have you ever bought a book/story because you first read a freebie by that author somewhere?

(P.S. - It''s yet another maketing tool, for all you authors out there!)